Pastrnak, Grzelcyk Score 2 Each, Bruins Beat Devils 5-1

NEWARK, N.J. — David Pastrnak and Matt Grzelcyk scored two goals apiece, and Brad Marchand added three assists to lead the Boston Bruins over the New Jersey Devils 5-1 on Tuesday night.

Tuukka Rask made 25 saves and New Jersey native Connor Clifton added a goal as the Bruins beat the Devils for the eighth time in nine meetings.

Blake Coleman scored for New Jersey, which was looking for its first three-game winning streak since December 2018. Mackenzie Blackwood made 23 saves in starting for the 12th time in 14 games.

The win was only Boston’s second in the last seven games (2-2-3), and the Bruins got goals from the expected and unexpected.

Pastrnak has an NHL-high 19 goals in 21 games, including 17 in his last 16 contests. Grzelcyk had six career goals in his first 149 games in the NHL. The defenceman had his first two-goal game in No. 150.

David Pastrnak Boston Bruins
David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins, Game 6 of the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Final (Photo by Brian Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)

Marchand set up the unlikely duo for goals 14 seconds apart in the first period for a 2-0 lead.

Coleman cut the margin in half late in the second, but the Bruins broke the game open in the third with three goals.

Pastrnak drew a penalty from P.K. Subban at 3:11 of the third period and scored eight seconds later with a rising shot from inside the blue line that whizzed past Blackwood.

Grzelcyk stripped the puck from Subban at the Devils line and skated in to beat Blackwood in close.

Clifton got his second of the season on a point shot.

Connor Clifton with St. Louis Blues center Ryan O'Reilly
Connor Clifton (Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports)

Boston top line centre Patrice Bergeron missed his second straight game with an undisclosed injury. David Krejci centred for Pastrnak and Marchand, and the line finished with seven points.

NOTES

Devils G Cory Schneider cleared waivers and was assigned to Binghamton (AHL). … Bruins forwards Brett Ritchie and Jake DeBrusk returned to the lineup after they each missed five games with injuries. … Coleman played in his 200th game and extended his point streak to four games.

UP NEXT

Bruins: Return home to face the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.

Devils: At the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday.

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Tom Canavan, The Associated Press